Adventure Time: How To Save A Life
by Sorra Chan
Summary: After Finn is killed by a mysterious man, Princess Bubblegum's world changes forever. But what if she can use her scientific abilities to bring him back to life? With Jake as her lab partner, Princess Bubblegum secludes herself in her lab to find a cure.
1. Prolouge

**I am putting my other story on hold due to writers block and the fact that it is just a bad story. Princess Bubblegum's POV the whole story.**

I remember. I remember it all- the day that ruined my life. It started out like any other normal day… I held a humungous party outside of the castle- almost every single person I knew came. It was crowded like crazy, of course. Everybody was shoulder to shoulder, trying to at least walk through the ocean of people. To keep me out of the crowd, I sat on a large, tall throne and intended to stay there.

The party was going well- people were shouting, dancing, drinking, eating….. It was all fine. Until _he _showed up. A tall, blue skinned man in a red fancy coat and spiky black hair had come in through the gates. His presence immediately called attention; as soon as he entered, everybody turned around to stare at him. He grinned at the faces that had stopped what they were doing for him. He stopped and kneeled down on his knees in the middle of the party.

"LISTEN TO ME!" He yelped at everyone in an angry tone. The whole party was already looking at him, so there was no reason to tell them to pay attention. "My name is Death." He said, attempting to be scary now. He bared his large pointy, vampire fangs, causing the whole crowd to flinch. "Alright, so I assume everyone is listening. Let me start. You may not talk to me unless I ask you to. I am here on business, so NO ONE disagrees with my decisions. If you do, then…" Death slid his hand over his neck as a symbol of, well, chopping someone's head off.

He lifted himself up off his knees and moved forwards in the crowd. He got back on his knees again when he reached the section of the crowd nearest to me. But he stopped right in front of Finn. He stopped right in front of him and stared him straight in the eyes, seemingly piercing through his soul. My stomach did multiple cartwheels as I slowly covered my mouth with my hand. I knew something horrible was about to happen. Death was staring at Finn, and Finn was paralyzed with fear. Jake frowned and backed away with a horrified face. I held my breath and tried to keep myself calm. Maybe Death just wanted to _talk _to Finn. Maybe he wanted to ask him something? Just because your name is Death doesn't mean you have to kill everyone you stare straight in the eye. Well, I was wrong. I was so wrong.

Death grabbed Finn by the shirt and lifted him up to his eye level. "I am going to kill you." He plainly stated. "Anyone wondering why? Well, too bad. You can't know- it's too dangerous. I really do have empathy, so, for everyone's sake, no one can find out. Now…." He pulled a pocket knife out of his pocket, "If you'll excuse me…"

I just let my hand fall from my mouth. I let go of my breath and let tears fall down my face, tickling my pink bubblegum cheeks. I didn't bother to look at anything or anyone besides Death and Finn. Death took his pocket knife and stabbed Finn right in the heart. I collapsed in my mental pain as a trickle of blood fell from the wound.

That night was the first night I cried myself to sleep. The first, not the only.

**The real chapters are going to be longer and better. This is just a prologue! Please R&R!**


	2. It's Okay

**Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I really love them and I'm trying to update ASAP, but might be a little late due to only 3 hrs. of free time a day.**

I lay on my back on the soft, pink mattress and sheets of different shades of pink that made up my bed. My line of vision kept focused on the ceiling, keeping me in a half-sleep trance that I didn't try too hard to shake off. All was quiet around me except the constant, bustling sounds that my kingdom made below me. The death had happened just yesterday- all so fast. Nobody could really process it. Everyone continued with their daily lives, but the happy, joyful tone of life for us had changed. Somehow, we all were thinking about it. We all exchanged glances- you could see the sadness in everyone's eyes. But no one had talked about it that much. Talking about it made me sad. I didn't want to appear sad in front of my people.

The sudden turn of my doorknob made me jump. The door creaked open a crack, but then stopped. Someone knocked on the door every so lightly that I almost didn't hear- Peppermint Butler.

"Yes?" I said, sitting up and frantically combing my hair with my fingers.

Peppermint Butler peeked in the door. "Princess…" He paused and looked up at me, as if I was going to turn into a monster and bite his head off. "T-the f-f-funeral is tomorrow." He choked out the words, knowing it would make me even more sad. I stifled a breath and nodded at him. He gave me a worried look, then receded back into the door crack.

I wished Peppermint Butler hadn't come in here when I was looking like a wreck. The last thing I wanted to do was to worry my people. I had Marceline's band T-shirt on, some pink sweat pants, a tired face, and my hair was a mess. It was 3:00 already, and I was still in my PJ's. I pushed myself off my bed and sulked towards my dresser, where I rummaged through to find an array of pink, purple, blue and a little bit of white clothes. I plucked out a pink strapless knee-length dress with a pink ribbon around the waist and a bow in the back. I yanked my pajamas off and struggled into the dress. I then grabbed my lace-up ballet shoes, sitting down and rushing to put them on. I looked pretty well put together after that, but my hair still needed a major brushing. I sat down and took about five minutes to brush it until it look pretty tamed. I tossed it over my shoulder and wrapped it together at the middle with a pink ribbon- my best weapon for looking good.

After I was all dressed, I opened my door and set out down the hall. After I made it through today, tomorrow was the funeral.

I stood straight with my hands together in a clasp, my eyes darting around at the other people. Most people were wearing white; not black. That was weird for any old funeral, but not Finn's. It just wasn't right to wear black to his funeral. Even I was wearing a long white gown. Marceline was even wearing a black and white dress. She was playing the piano, which I found odd for her daring nature. Her fingers danced across the keys, creating a beautiful song. It fit the mood of the moment; everything was quiet, and it was lightly snowing, covering the coffin in a white blanket.

"Are they going to cremate him?" I heard Tree Trunks mutter to LSP. "I dunno- probably." She whispered back. "They aren't." A red haired girl in a hooded cloak spoke up. "How do _you _know him?" LSP narrowed her eyes curiously. The red haired girl didn't reply.

Jake was standing right across from me. He turned away from the coffin that was in the center of everyone, like it was burning his eyes. Tears soaked his cheeks and jowls as Lady Rainicorn attempted to comfort him. She leaned down and pressed her head to him, acting as a blanket.

I sort of wished someone would comfort me. I was the one that was supposed to calm everyone down… but I was failing. My people depended on me and I was failing them already. What if I never got over this? I would probably stay in my room the rest of my life, mourning the loss of the closest friend I had ever had. My mother had always told me you had to move on in life. That was what kept you going, kept you motivating. My mother was dead now, of course. She had died of a heart attack when I was eight years old. My father died before I was born. It seemed as if everyone special in my life had died. My best friend from birth had been killed by a vampire when I was ten. That was part of why I didn't like Marceline that much.

Suddenly, I heard someone calling my name. "Princess!" The voice snapped angrily. I snapped back to reality. Marceline was standing in front of me, her sheets of music in hand. "It's over." She pointed her nose up. I realized that her eyes were teary. Surely she wasn't crying- living for a thousand years, wouldn't she learn to get over people's deaths? She seemed so serious… and she wasn't even calling me Bonnibell. I had not noticed that the funeral _was _over. Some people had spoken, we had a moment of

"Marceline…. That was a nice song you played." I smiled and looked up at her. She blushed and looked down. "Thanks… I wrote lyrics for it, too." She softened her voice, looking up. "I miss him…. I haven't missed anyone who's died in 900 years. I feel so weird- not like myself."

"Me too; besides the haven't missed anyone in 900 years part. It's okay to cry, you know. It's okay." I gave her a sympathetic look.

"You know what? You're okay, Princess Bubblegum. You're okay." Marceline wiped the tears from her eyes and walked off. Something fell from her arms as she walked away; it was a sheet of paper. I strolled over to pick it up. I turned it over to the front.

**Lyrics to Piano Song**

It said. It was the song Marceline wrote along to the music she had played. I quickly read over it, hoping that no one would catch me and think I stole it. The words flowed beautifully along and reminded me of him so much. I couldn't believe Marceline had written it. It made me tear up, like I hadn't enough that day. Then I thought- I had a piano at the castle and had taken lessons when I was 15. Maybe I still remembered a little. I wanted to sing this song so much. I didn't know how I would return it to Marceline afterwards, but I had to keep it now, anyways. Maybe it would help calm me down. It held all the emotions I was feeling- the one thing that, in the moment, pulled my sadness apart and divided it into pieces. When I got home, I would try this song on the piano so many times until I got it right. Then I would sing this beautiful, precious song. I folded the paper up and kept it clasped in my hand.


	3. Marcy's Music

**Thanks you for your reviews! I am so happy that I have enough time to do this…. I hope this chapter will be okay.**

I sat down on the dusty old piano that sat in the basement of the castle. I wiped of some of the dust and cobwebs on the keyboard, making random notes that didn't actually sound so bad. Anyone could play the piano if they learned the notes. I unfolded Marceline's song and propped it up on the little wooden stand over the keys so I could see it. It had many complicated notes, but I still had some skills from playing three years ago. Maybe I could pull this off.

The lyrics to the song were written over the piano notes in a neat, cursive handwriting. I decided to sing the song first, then play it. Things would be a heck of a lot easier that way. I thoroughly read through the song again, whispering the notes as my eyes skimmed over them. The song, once again, tugged at tears from the corners of my eyes. Every word spoke to me differently- it was a weird feeling that intrigued me to read more.

It was so sweet… so mesmerizing. I no longer wanted to play it or sing it or do anything with it. I would most likely mess it up. Marceline was the only one who fully knew the song… the only one who could execute it beautifully. If I asked her to play it, would she be mad? I had hardly seen a trace of the old Marcy; but would she still yell at me for reading her song? That was a chance I'd have to take. I'd take it to her house and see if she would play it for me…. It was a risk, but I was taking it. I snatched the piece of paper off the piano and folded it up again.

Lady Rainicorn was off with Jake, so I would have to take off on foot. I sighed and took my white heels off; if I was going to walk a long way, I didn't need to stumble and fall. I hurried out of the palace with the paper in my hand.

"Ummm…. Anyone home?" I knocked hesitantly on the small purple door that led to the old, white house that Marceline called hers. I looked down hesitantly, biting my lip. The last time I had came here was five years ago, when I needed to borrow some sugar. Not much had changed since then.

The door opened a little crack, following by Marceline's head. "Bonnie? What do you want?" She questioned me, raising her brow.

"Uh, I found this." I handed her the folded piece of paper. She carefully unfolded it and looked angrily at me when she found out what it was. "My song? You stole it!" She flung the door open all the way.

"No! I swear, I didn't! I just want you do sing it for me." I explained carefully.

"_Sing _it for you? Just sing it to yourself!" Her face flushed tomato red and she slammed the door closed. I heaved a sigh- but I wasn't going to give up now. I knocked on the door again, harder this time. She would take time to warm up to me, but I knew I could convince Marcy to sing this for me. "I know you're there! I'm not leaving until you sing it."

There was a long pause, then the door flew open, blowing a huge gust of wind towards me like a tornado and knocking me to my knees. The door shattered like glass against the wall it had been slammed against. I had never seen a door just break like that…. It looked as if Marceline was furious with me. I gulped, hoping that she wouldn't hurt me.

"Alright," She said, obviously mad, "I'll do it. Come on in." She swung her head in the direction of the inside of her house. I warily stepped in, lifting my gown up so I didn't get any dirt on it. Marceline looked at me like I was crazy- of course. She wouldn't care if she got _her _dress dirty. She thought I was some snotty girl. I followed her to the black keyboard set up in the middle of her living room. She bent down and turned one of the knobs- she seemed to be fixing the volume or something. A white, fluffy moving thing scampered up to me. I soon realized it was a dog, but it looked possessed or something…. None of my business.

"Okay," She said, sitting down at the black stool that looked as if it matched with the keyboard. She stuffed the song in her pocket; I guessed she knew it by heart. She began playing a tune on the keyboard, then began singing:

_I could pull you by the strings_

_You knew all my favorite things_

_It's hard to know nobody cares_

_Then I came across you dear_

_I always knew you'd leave me_

_I'd get young and you'd get old_

_We'd just shrug and say goodbye_

_That's the principles of life_

_Never thought it'd end this way_

_I cannot get through the days _

_Some people come some people go_

_But maybe I just go too slow_

_Some people take their own lives_

_It will cause their families strife_

_My family is dead and gone_

_So what can possibly go wrong?_

_Some people just kill others_

_Just to worry… their mothers _

_And I never got to tell you this_

_But I knew who your mother was….._

_Just a little bit because_

_She just wanted you to live a life_

_She really loved you so _

_Please don't die, please don't go_

_You captured my heart and soul_

_Never thought I'd fall in love_

_You're a hero and angel_

_Why did you just die so young?_

_If I mean a lot to you_

_Really, Finn, if I do_

_You mean a lot to me too._

"There!" Marceline stopped playing and stood up. "Go, now."

I hurried out of her house, running all the way home. I just wished I could bring him back to life. That reminded me of when we made a potion to bring candy people back to life. If only that could happen with him…. Wait! Maybe I could make something to bring him back!

**Okay…. That chapter was short and slopped down. I wrote the song myself, and I know it's bad. Stay tuned for the next chapter! It will be better I promise. Please R&R!**


	4. Science

I was on my knees in the meadow where Finn had been buried. I was going to dig him up and try to bring him back. It was a stretch, but I could do it in about a couple months maximum. I would need to make an ingredient list, have some help and spend every day in my lab. But, if I succeeded, it would be worth it. To see him alive again….that was my goal. I grabbed the shovel that leaned on my side and stabbed it into the dirt in front of me. It didn't make even a dent at first- I would have to dig harder. I stood up and pointed the end of the shovel to the dirt, then placed my foot on the side of the shovel and stomped, forcing the shovel into the ground. I repeated the process and the shovel plunged smoothly into the dirt over and over again. I threw the ground I had dug out behind me, creating a large brown pile. They must have buried him pretty deep; I had already dug about five feet and did not see him.

Suddenly, my shovel pressed into something squishy. I gasped in excitement and kneeled down to clear some dirt away with my hands to find a limp, floppy arm. It was definitely Finn's.

They had just buried him two days ago, so I expected him to be not decomposed yet. But when I dug him up, he was far from that. He was completely intact- he looked exactly like he had when I had seen him last. I carefully hoisted the body up out of the hole. We rarely ever used coffins these days, so I was glad there wasn't one this time, purely for my convenience. Now, how was I going to get this body back to the castle and into my lab without anybody seeing it? Oh, yes- I had come prepared. I had brought a large black bag with me to bring the body back in so I could safely work on it in the lab without anyone knowing.

I lifted the body into the bag and zipped it up, slinging it over my shoulder. I kicked some dirt back into the hole I had dug out and headed off in the direction of the Candy Kingdom.

I lay the body on my large gray table carefully. I crept around and inspected it, making sure there were no bugs or rotting parts. I needed to get to work right away- I started my flipping through my formula book. It listed formulas and ingredients I needed for most things. I looked for the formula for bringing dead candy people back to life. I flipped through the book until I found the formula that I wanted in the middle. If I could take the formula and then tweak it in some places, maybe it could work. My eyes rolled down the page, scanning the ingredients I needed.

_One cup of reforming sugar_

_One teaspoon of paralyzation cure _

_9 oz. of ruby_

_Three cups of distilled candy blood_

_Two cups of non-alcoholic cleaner_

_Seventeen rainbow flowers_

_A magic spark spell_

_A fairy aurora _

_Four oz. of preserving gel_

_**Makes 20 servings **_

I kept my place with my finger, flipped to the back of the book and wrote _Bringing Humans Back to Life _at the top. In the following fifteen minutes I had flipped back and forth between the two pages and wrote down a list of ingredients that I guessed would work. They had to work.

I woke up the next morning to a cool breeze ruffling through my hair. My mascara was a little smeared from last night's bawling session, but I didn't really pay attention to things as little as that anymore. I had not been outside in a while, not counting the long, lonely stares at my people from the balcony. I missed my people… they loved me unconditionally.

Peppermint Butler would often come into my bedroom and leave some food or a funny movie he thought I would like. I would lay on my bed and watch them on the big flat screen television. They never made me laugh, though. I hadn't really laughed since the…. _Incident. _Now I would be all cooped up in my lab, with only science to keep me company. And I don't mean science as in the subject- I mean as in the rat. Science, a small candy corn rat who had once saved the kingdom from a zombie infestation, was just about my only company when I was in the lab. She had taken a liking to Finn, and she seemed to notice that he didn't come anymore. She also noticed that I was sad, so she would sometimes curl up on my lap and comfort me when I let her out of her cage.

I sighed heavily and stood up, shoving the covers back into a crumpled ball. Peppermint Butler had breakfast prepared on a dainty red tray set out all neat on my nightstand. A bowl of sad-looking cereal sat there with a flower décor right beside it and a large glass of orange juice, looking like a breakfast in bed on mother's day sort of thing. I got up and passed by it dismissively- All I wanted to do was get to work in the lab.

I changed into my lab coat and pink dress, wiped the messed up make-up off my face, brushed my hair and disappeared into a secret hatch in the wall that led to my lab.

I cleared off the dusty work table in the middle of the lab and carefully placed his body on it. First I would have to make something to preserve it. Good thing I had saved to formula for a preserving potion in my book. Suddenly, I heard a banging coming from close by. I looked over to see Science bumping her head against the thick glass that closed her in. She seemed to see the body on the table, and got anxious. I decided to let her out; maybe she could be of my assistance.

"Alright, girl," I carefully leaned the cage on its side, letting Science scramble out and hop up on the table. She was staring sadly down at the body, seemingly mourning for her old friend. I softly stroked her fur and murmured, "We're going to bring him back, don't worry."

**Sorry this took so long! I will always reply back to your reviews unless you have reviewed before because I don't want to fill up your PM box. Please R&R!**


	5. Extra Help

**I know I say this all the time but I really love the reviews it makes me feel good that people actually care about my story and sometimes gives me a boost in my writing. **

I was in my lab when I heard an ever so slight knocking on the door. I stopped what I was doing and called out, "Who is it?"

"Umm…. It's umm… Jake." I could hear Jake's voice, soft and sad, unlike his normal voice. In the past week, he had turned into a soft, shriveled, sad, sissie; a shell of his former self. He spent almost all of his time with Lady Rainicorn. I quickly covered the body in a black garbage bag and opened the door a tiny crack, shoving my face in it.

"Hey," I greeted him with a warm slight smile, hoping it wouldn't be awkward between us.

"Ummm… Do you, uh, know where Lady Rainicorn is?" He asked, looking up at me hopefully.

"Oh, she's off helping out with Slime Princess's fundraiser…." I took the time that Jake took to respond to think; I would need as much help as possible, and I should tell Jake if I was trying to bring Finn back to life- he had a closer bond with him than I ever did.

"Jake," I grabbed a second to breathe in a breath of air, "I want you to see something. Come with me." I grabbed his hand and pulled him into the lab, slamming the door behind him. "Did you see anyone in the hallways? Good." I said when he shook his head.

"Alright….Come here." I jerked his arm, pulling him over to stand in front of the table. I carefully removed the trash bag, gradually revealing the body and widening Jake's eyes as I went. I finally had Finn's entire body revealed, sitting there, lifeless. I gripped the trash bag tightly, releasing a crinkling sound- the only thing happening in the whole room. Jake had his eyes close tight, trembling with shock and probably many other emotions that I could not see.

"Jake," I started, but he stopped me.

"Why did you dig him up? What are you going to do? I have so many questions…." Jake shook his head sadly and just stared at his best friend in the entire world's dead body. It must have been so hard for him; I could feel a river of emotions flowing out from his mind, things that I had never thought of before. I had not known Finn my whole life- had not been a brother to him, had not shared my deepest secrets with him, had not stood beside him for life.

"I think I can make a formula to bring him back…. And I want you to help me." I said plainly, searching Jake's face for any sign of optimism. Sure enough, there was a sparkle in his eye.

"I'm in. I'm totally in." He smiled and seemed to breathe a sigh of relief that he might see his buddy alive once again.

"Alright," I took the trash bag and began slowly covering Finn again, "I'll show you the ingredients and we'll get started tomorrow morning. When you come by here tomorrow, you can't tell anyone. Even Lady Rainicorn."

"I guess that's a fair deal. I'll be here at sunrise." Jake sighed, trotting off awkwardly out the door.

I laid my elbows on the silver lab table, sighing. I didn't bother to cover the body up- the preserving potion I had just made would take care of everything. While I had gone through my ingredients list, I had wondered how we could possibly get the distilled human blood. That's right, of course, I had replaced the distilled candy blood for human blood. But what was I thinking? There was no human I could just go up to and get blood from. Yes, there was Susan Strong, but I didn't know for sure if she was human or not or where to find her.

Then something, a brilliant light bulb, popped into my head. Years ago, Marceline had told me about someone she met; a little human girl with blue eyes and blonde hair. She quickly changed the subject, which was why I didn't remember it. She also, I recalled, said that she knew Finn's mother in her song from the other day. I could be on to something big! I had a fool-proof plan now: I would go to Marceline's house tomorrow with Jake and ask her about it. Surely she would not turn us away from those crucial details. But, then again, how would I explain it? I didn't want her helping; meaningless arguments would only get in the way. I would find some way to explain, though. I had to find _some way _to do pretty much everything these days.

Suddenly, someone else rapped on the door. _Who could it be this time? _I wondered. "Who is it?" I hummed politely, running my fingers through my hair to make it look brushed.

"Princess Bubblegum! We need you now!" I could hear Dr. Cupcake's voice clearly through the thick wooden door and, by her tone, I knew something was seriously wrong. I opened the door a teeny crack to make sure nobody saw the body, and then darted out to join the doctor in the hallway. She tugged me along frantically, and I barely kept pace.

"What's wrong?" I asked, barely having enough breath for the words.

"Peppermint Butler is seriously ill!" Doctor Cupcake said, worry tugging on her words. "He's at the hospital- we need to get there, now! The nurse is working on him…. But we don't know how it will turn out."

"Oh no….." I knew before that something serious was happening- Doctor Cupcake, who would normally be working on the patient herself, had come to get me.

We arrived at the hospital soon enough; everyone was crowding around the small silver operating table in the middle of the room. "Peppermint Butler! Peppermint Butler!" "What do you need?" "What have you been eating?" "Do you want water?" I heard numerous voices shouting, each one tinged with panic. I shoved to the front of the squirming crown to have a look at Peppermint Butler for myself: He did not look good, as expected.

"Princess…" He rasped, slowly turning over to face me. "Talk… In private…." He squeezed words out, each one short ad barely audible.

"He wants to speak with me alone," I turned to confront nurse Poundcake. "Please." She gave a curt nod, then vanished out the door with the worried candy people trailing behind.

Once the door was shut, I whipped around the inspect Peppermint Butler. "You don't look like you've caught anything I've ever seen before," I leaned down and spoke in a soft tone, "You should just rest and let Doctor Cupcake and Nurse Poundcake do what they can."

"No." Peppermint Butler spoke in a clearer, defined tone now. "Princess….. I fear greatly. I fear for your life."

**Sorry the chapter took so long! :P**


	6. Oh My Glob!

**Yei! More reviews! *throws confetti in air***

"W-what?" I stuttered- when Peppermint Butler talked like this, I had to take him seriously.

"Be careful… He wants the…. From him… Get in his way…" And then, PB's eyes just closed. His body just went…. limp. Was he really _dead_? He couldn't be! He couldn't be dead! I shook him vigorously, wailing, "Peppermint Butler! Peppermint Butler! You can't leave! What do you mean?"

Interrupting my plea, the Doctor Ice Cream flung the door open. "Princess, is he alright?" She hurried over to Peppermint Butler, not waiting for a reply. She carefully leaned over him, frantically checking every place on his body. Then she relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"He's not gone. I think the stuff I gave him just knocked him out. Glob won't take him today…" She sighed, sounding wistful. Then I remembered the day they had rushed Finn into the hospital after Death had stabbed him. They said there was nothing they could do, that he was already gone.

I clasped my hands over my heart, silently praying my thanks to Glob for keeping Peppermint Butler safe. "What was he sick with? Have you found out yet?" I turned to Doctor Ice Cream, just as Nurse Poundcake walked in.

"Doctor Ice Cream, I have tested the DNA samples." She reported stiffly.

"Great. I'll have a look at them right away." Doctor Ice Cream replied. She started to open her mouth again, only to be cut off by Nurse Poundcake.

"Why are we testing them, again, Doctor?" She asked inquisitively.

"Candy DNA has a very simple make-up, so if a Candy Person gets sick, their DNA is contaminated and it is very easy to see what made them sick and how strong it is." I concluded simply.

"Exactly, Princess." Doctor Ice Cream gave me a blink of appreciation for explaining. "Why don't you come with us to look at the samples?"

"I would be delighted." I replied, performing a slight bow. Doctor Ice Cream nodded and signaled for me to follow her down the hall. We exited through the swinging doors to find many worried Candy People. Doctor Ice Cream leaned over and whispered something to Lollipop Girl, who nodded blankly and hurried into the operating room where Peppermint Butler was passed out. I ignored the questions of everyone swarming around me, trying to block out their worried cries. It would be best if we could tell them the whole story after we saw the DNA.

"It's that room ahead on the right." Nurse Poundcake glanced over her shoulder to tell me. "I'm going to stay behind to help out with a few…. _issues_. You go ahead with her, Doctor."

Doctor Ice Cream nodded, meeting Nurse Poundcake's eyes just to pass a brief look of understanding between them. What did she mean by _issues_?

"Well, what are you waiting for? C'mon!" Doctor Ice Cream gestured with her hand for me to come.

The room was spotless and the only thing there was a set of lab equipment and a large screen for viewing things. "Alright, the samples are right here. Let's check them out. Doctor Ice Cream inserted a small tube into a large silver machine. The viewing screen suddenly lit up with a picture of a strand of Peppermint Butler's DNA. It looked very wrong, though. The strand was covered with green and yellow lumps that looked like mold in a way. I could sense the stiff panic coming from Doctor Ice Cream.

"Princess. I, actually, think you should take the Candy People home. They're so stressed out about Peppermint Butler, they'll find comfort in having their Princess lead them back. I'll lead the way, alright?" Doctor Ice Cream stared me right in the eyes. I knew the candy people were not the reason I was going home. It was the DNA. Something was seriously wrong with it and I wasn't supposed to find out.

I nodded as she quickly shut off the screen. Something was going on here, and I really wanted to find out.

I was mixing more preserving gel when I saw the sun peek its glowing yellow head over the horizon out of my lab window, open only for today so I could check the time. It was about time when Jake was supposed to be coming. Hopefully he would show up and not forget. Just in time with my thoughts, I heard a light knock on my door. Jake.

I almost ran over to the door to fling it open and let him in. He stepped warily into my lab as I shut and locked the door behind him. He stared at Finn's body awkwardly, like he was scared of it or not so sure we should be doing this.

"So…. What are we going to do first?" He looked up at me, a little more eager and less wary this time.

"We have to go to Marceline's house. There's a very important question I must ask her- It's for the sake of one of our ingredients. Alright?"

"Okay. What do you have to ask her?" Jake asked.

"You'll find out." I took his arm and tugged him out the door.

"Alright, here we go. If she gets mad at us, you can, um, take her, right?" I turn to Jake just as we approach Marceline's door.

"Uh, _no_!" Jake seems appalled that I would expect he could fight her.

"Okay, then. Let's just try not to make her mad." I'm a little scared, but I try not to let Jake see it as I carefully knock on the door that she seems to replace since she broke it. As soon as my knuckle and the door meet, it opens. There is Marceline, floating before us with her arms crossed.

"Bonnibell? Jake? What have we got here?"

When we both start stuttering and don't know how to not make her mad, she says, "Speak!"

"Umm…. We came to ask you something. It's something we really need to know, if you'd just talk to us?" I look up at Marceline hopefully, but her narrowed eyes and raised brows don't change.

"Whatever. But only because I'm in a good mood today…. And you seem desperate." She slowly opens the door all the way to turn around and float inside. We cautiously follow her inside. I'm careful not to act prissy to make a good impression on her, but I regret it when I don't pick my long dress and the light purple lace gets a bit dirty.

"Sit." Marceline gestures to the red couch against the wall. It's rock hard, but we sit anyways.

"So, what's so important that you have to interrupt my day to ask me about it?" She leans back like she's on an invisible floating chair.

"In your song, you said…. You said that you knew Finn's mother. We need to find her. Is she alive?" I ask, hoping Marcelene will answer.

She pauses for a moment, looking up at the ceiling, then speaks, In a surprisingly serious tone. "The last time I saw her was seven years ago. She was living in a cave. I don't know why you dweebs need to know, but I don't know where she is now."

Jake and I were disappointed. So she could be anywhere right now? We both sighed and shook our heads.

Marcelene must have seen our disappointment, so she spoke again. "Jake. You know Susan Strong, right? I heard you talking about her when I was spying in your house." When Jake nodded, she continued. "She knows his mother. She's a human too, I think. Anyway, if you can find her, she might know where Finn's mom is. That's all the info I have. Now go. Now." Marceline used some weird vampire power I've never seen before to fling the door open from 10 feet away.

We both nodded and quickly hurried out. "So," I told Jake, "If we can find Susan Strong, we can take the human blood from her. We know she's human now. But…. Should we go even further and try to find Finn's mom?"

Jake didn't say anything for a second, just kept walking and seemed to be thinking. "I'd like to. I mean, It'd be nice to see who it is, and when he comes back… I think he would like to now."

I nod silently, closing my eyes to imagine when he _does _wake up.

**I have not abandoned this story! I'll try to get chapters out sooner. I had no time for a while. Oh, yeah, and I don't know anything about chemistry or DNA so don't expect it to be correct.**


	7. First Adventure

**I'll try to get chapters out as soon as I can from now on. I found a couple grammar issues in the last one after reading over the version on FF, so I'll try to avoid those in this one.**

"So, where do you think we could find Susan?" I ask Jake. We're in F and J's tree house. Well, just Jake's- only for now, we hope. Jake spends most of his time in Lady Rainicorn's house or outside, since he says this place makes him feel depressed. I can sort of see why, with all the belongings, pictures and even words of his carved into the smooth wood. It makes me feel sad, too.

"Well, we last saw her in this place called Beautopia, where the Hyooman tribe lives. I'm pretty sure she still lives there, unless something happened." Jake responds in a matter-o-fact way.

I slowly nod, trying to picture a place called "Beautopia" in my head. Is it, hence the name, beautiful? Or maybe ironically ugly? "So, how do we get to this place?" I ask. It seems like a legit question.

"Well, remember where we destroyed those tree stumps for you, a while back?" Jake doesn't pause for me to answer. "There's a hole that looks like it goes to a sewer down there. But there's no sewer- it's a dry piece of land with a bunch of garbage covering it. Then there's some water that leads to a whirlpool. You'll have to take a boat, then go down the whirlpool. You come out in more water, where you have to get through some really big walls that open and close really fast. If they close on you, you're dead. But I can totally stretch us over that. After you go through a little more water… Bam! There's Beautopia. It's really pretty. And they have a lot of food. Really delicious food. It's so yummy….. A-Anyways, it's pretty easy to get there."

So, it's technically in my kingdom. Why didn't I know about that fake sewer? "Well, should we go soon? Today?" I ask.

"Yeah; It's the perfect time. It'll probably take us all day to get her." Jake gestures to the window with a perfect view of the slowly rising sun. I nod and spin around to scuffle through the hot pink purse of supplies I brought with me. Extra bubblegum, water, rope (don't ask me why- it comes in handy), and, ah, my lab equipment. Things for taking blood. I close the purse and pull it over my head to have the strap sitting on my left shoulder and the bag on my opposite hip. I've come dressed in clothes that would hold up well for an adventure that I've been hoping to have and most likely will. A light pink V-necked dress with a large bow in the back and that floats down to my ankles with slits in the sides of the skirt and thick strap/sleeves that are made to fall my shoulders and sit wrapped around my upper arm is tailored exactly to fit me, matched with hot pink knee-high lace up boots and hot pink elbow high fingerless gloves. My tiara is super secured to my head so it won't fall off.

"Well, I've got everything. You all stocked up?" I push myself off the floor to stand up.

"Hmm… Almost. Just a minute." Jake walks out of the room and comes back about two minutes later with an axe. "We might need it." He shrugs. He's not trying to scare me or anything, but I sure feel nervous. Maybe it's because I've never really done something where it was really possible to get hurt, with the exception of an experiment.

"Alright, so should we get a move on?" I ask, running my fingers along the strap of my purse.

"Yep!" Jake's voice is confident and excited. He flings open the door and trots out happily with me trailing behind.

"Jake," All we have done so far is get to the land mass with the garbage and set sail toward the whirlpool on a small boat. We have been floating for what seems like hours, but Jake said about five minutes ago it was only about twenty minutes. "How much longer?"

"I think we're almost there." Jake replies in a groan. I can see he's getting very impatient, too. I sigh and sit down cross-legged on one side of the boat to watch the deep blue waves lick at the hard stone walls. It would be pitch black in here if Jake hadn't brought a lantern that swings with squeaking sounds over my head.

"I think I see it!" Jake jumps up with such excitement that the boat lurches. It rocks and rocks, pushing me closer to the edge each time. I try to hold on to the bottom of the boat, but it is so fragile that a piece of slippery wet wood comes off along with my fingers. Now I only have one hand desperately clinging to the boat.

"Jake! I need h-" It's like an explosion. The wood from the boat flies everywhere with deafening cracking noises. One piece of wood flies right into my arm, the pointy part of the nail digging itself into me. Even though I'm made of bubblegum, I can still feel pain. I wince and throw my head back to emit a muted scream. Somehow I've torn that wooden thing apart only by pulling too hard on it. What a crappy boat.

I can hardly swim already, much less with this giant hunk of wood attached to my arm. Jake could save me, but I can't spot him anywhere.

"Jake! Jake!" I scream. I can't keep myself above water, and start to be forced under by heavy waves continuously washing over me. Now I can't breathe at all and frantically splash, trying to get up to the surface. The nail seems to dig deeper in my arm, spreading sharp pain that makes my suffering worse. I can't die now! Then who will bring Finn back?

I feel a sudden, light jerk around my waist. Someone has wrapped an arm around me. It's not Jake, though. I am pulled up out of the water and take a huge breath of air as soon as I can. I can't see my rescuer because my vision is so blurred, but they seem to be strong since they are carrying me while doing a one-hand backstroke with ease.

I am finally lying on a rocky shore, still taking giant breaths of air when I'm not coughing out water. A large figure stands before me, one that I immediately recognize: Susan Strong.

"You okay?" she asks in her odd, broken up accent.

"I'm fine, thank you so very much for saving me!" I try my most diplomatic tone, but still stifle a cough. "W-where's Jake?"

Susan gestures to Jake, who is sitting on the floor munching on a doughnut like nothing had happened. "Sorry," He says, mouth still full. "I couldn't find you anywhere."

Just then I notice the Hyoomans sitting all around us. Well, some of them. "Susan, why aren't you at Beautopia?"

"Tell me it's not the Glub Lubs again!" Jake rolls his eyes. I don't know what Glub Lubs are, but I'll probably find out if it's important.

"No," Susan says, her voice shaking with fear and eyes widening. "It was man. He say name is Death."

**Worked hard on this chapter, meow! Please R&R!**


	8. Trust Susan

**Sorry about the slow update! My computer had to be fixed.**

"Death?" I clutch my skirt tightly in my fists. So he _has _been killing more people. "What did he look like?" I ask, although I already know the answer.

"Um…. Brown hair. Black eyes. Tall as this." Susan holds her hand up to a height of about five feet. So this _isn't _the Death I know. Has he taken control of someone else's body? Or maybe there is more than one Death? I force myself to keep quiet and not tell Susan that I've seen a different Death. I give Jake a warning look and small shake of the head, which seems to be enough to keep him quiet, too.

"Death kill…. Death kill…." Susan keeps dropping off the sentence, but I know what her last word would be. So maybe she does know. News gets around Ooo pretty fast, even to anyone who might live in a sewer or cave.

"Yes," I quickly cut her off, not wanting her to have to say the painful name. "Let's not talk… about it." I make an attempt to put my hand over my heart, but instead feel a sharp shock of pain. It's then I realize that the piece of wood is still lodged in my arm. Susan seems to see it, and, giving me a brief look of sympathy, leans over to tug at it. I let out a wail at the pain and sound of my candy flesh being torn. The wood isn't all the way out yet, and Susan tugs at it once again, much harder this time, until it's finally ripped free.

I force myself to look down at my arm, which now has a chunk of flesh ripped out of it. I feel a small gag come to my mouth, but I swallow it quickly. I'm glad I'm not human like Susan, or there would probably be that disgusting red human blood everywhere by now.

"So, Susan," I sit up, ignoring the slight protest of pain from my arm as I push myself up. "I was wondering if you knew someone…. Well, they're human. And blonde." Marceline didn't really give us any other information, so I cross my fingers in the hope that Susan will know what we're talking about.

"Susan know someone! Susan know lady who is human and blonde. Princess and Jake want to see her?" I smile in delight and excitedly stand up.

"Yes! We really want to see her. Can you take us?" Jake's voice is buzzing with excitement equal to my own.

"Yes. Susan take you right away."

I drag my feet slowly up the rocky mountain, only to slip again and fall flat on my face. Who would live up here? Susan said that the woman we wanted to see lived in a cave at the very top of the mountain. I can't help but thinking that if she lives all the way up there, maybe she doesn't want to be found.

"You okay?" Jake's voice interrupts my thoughts.

"I'm fine!" I call out. Susan and Jake are way ahead of me, mostly because I'm the only one who keeps falling. Susan is strong and surprisingly agile for her body type, and Jake just stretches himself up since he's too lazy to do otherwise. I sigh and push myself halfway up to find a large paw in front of me.

"Just hop on." Jake grins at me. I wipe the dirt off of my skirt and lift myself up to sit in the middle of his paw. Jake carries me up to where he is with Susan and, enlarging his whole body, dumps me on his back. I let go of a defeated sigh and flop down on my stomach.

"How much farther?" Jake asks, but by the tone he's using, I feel like he's asking for my sake. _If you didn't have magical stretchy powers, _I think to myself, _you'd be so lazy someone would have to carry you everywhere!_

"Almost there! Susan have to warn you, might want to stay out of lady's way. She might think you want hurt her." Susan gives us a reassuring smile.

"Why would she think we want to hurt her?" I can't keep my curiosity from jumping out of my mouth. I wait a while for Susan to answer, but she never does. Her expression holds no evidence of a reaction, so I wonder if she never heard me. But it seems pretty convenient to "not hear" a question that might not have a very pleasant answer.

I shake my head, blocking out the thoughts that could sneak in if I keep thinking like this anymore. I always remember my mother, and what an optimistic person she was. I always wanted to be like her, to find the good side of everything. But I guess that just wasn't me. I'm neither an optimist nor am I unoptimistic. A lot of bad thoughts seep into my mind, clouding my thought process and even occasionally causing me to have to lie down to clear my head. I only let the good thoughts slip out, though. That's why everyone thinks of me as such an optimist, but I have many doubts swirling around inside. Finn always helped me to clear those. He was such an optimist, helping to refresh my mind and bringing me back to a happy place.

"Princess okay?" Susan's voice washes all my thoughts away. I must have been looking sad, because she looks very concerned for me. My train of thought goes crazy places sometimes.

"Oh! I'm fine, I'm fine. That's just my… um, vacant expression." I stifle a fake laugh, which changes Susan's expression from concerned to mildly confused.

"Mm! We're here!" She turns her head to face toward a small doorway carved into the shiny, crystal like, blue-tinted rock in front of us.

"What kind of rock is this?" I ask her, skimming my fingers over the cool surface. It's definitely not any rock I've ever seen. Susan simply shrugs her shoulders. Jake shrinks down to his normal size and I hop off him, adjusting my crooked tiara after landing.

Susan leads us into the smoothly cut entrance. I have to duck when we enter, because it's only about five feet tall. As soon as my whole body is in, I feel like I've gone blind. I force myself not to panic. I don't know where anyone is, what is around me, or even how wide or tall the tunnel surrounding me is. I stretch my arms out to the sides and stand on my tippy toes to stretch my arms up to find the width and height. It's about four feet wide and nine feet tall. Now to find Jake and Susan.

"Guys!" I call out. After a few seconds, I hear a call come back.

"Princess! We right in front of you. I know way through these, but stay with me, because you get lost, it's very hard to find the way out. Jake, you hold on to Princess's and my hand?" Susan orders us. I suddenly feel Jake's paw on my shoulder, then feel it slowly move down to reach my hand. I feel him start walking and I follow, carefully placing my steps so I'll be less likely to step on something I don't want to. Soon the darkness slowly fades until I can see the faint outline of Jake in front of me. We come to a fork in the road. The tunnel to the right has a damp, earthy smell and occasional breezes coming from it. The tunnel to the left smells of sea water, and I can hear faint rumbling sounds if I listen closely.

"So, which path will we take?" Jake asks Susan after she doesn't speak for a few moments.

"Doesn't matter, both lead to same place. But… This one." Susan starts down the path to the left. We walk for about twenty minutes through the tunnel that has gone dark again until Susan stops abruptly. The rumbling sound is very loud now, and it sounds like falling water. Susan sounds like she does something that involves getting on her knees, and then, like a flash of lightning, the whole tunnel lights up. But it's not a tunnel anymore. It's a humongous cave. At my right is a waterfall of crystalline water falling elegantly down in a transparent sheet from not boulders, but pure crystal rock. The floor beneath us is the same gorgeous blue rock that made up the entrance to the tunnels. A perfectly cut star shape in the stone ceiling frames the crescent moon which shines a beam of light on the cave floor. Various vines weave themselves among the crystal rock, with beautiful black roses growing among them. I'll certainly have to check out these things on our way back- everything here seems naturally impossible. Several smaller waterfalls around us seem to be almost unreal. Midnight black water carries dozens of small bright sparkles, like little stars along with it as it flows in waves down ruby and sapphire rock. It's like the night sky pouring out in liquid form.

"Pretty…. I know. We got to keep moving, though. It already night. We got to catch her before she go to sleep." Jake and I both nod, too mesmerized by the beauty of the scene around us to talk. Susan leaned down once again and pressed a small crystal button in an emerald rock, which immediately closes the star shaped opening in the ceiling and shuts off the light. We all hold hands again and start walking, but it's only about a minute before we get to the next cave. It's way smaller, about eighteen feet tall and thirty feet wide. A small circle shape in the ceiling lets in the moonlight.

"This where she live. She supposed to be here…" Susan tells us. We look blankly around for a few seconds, until I finally spot a something. Before I can say anything, I'm slammed into the wall by several tiny stilettos that have pinned me by my clothing.

An angelic, smooth voice rings out in a calm tone, "So, who are you?"

**Alright, R&R, meow! Also, if you don't know what stilettos are, they're not the shoes- they're little tiny blades, like pocket knives without handles. *Thinking of an example…* If you've ever watched Avatar: The Last Airbender, they are those things that Mai uses. **


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